


First Meetings

by Kookaburra42



Series: Redemption and Remaking [6]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Beginnings, Culture Shock, Found Family, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kookaburra42/pseuds/Kookaburra42
Summary: An Umaia child is adopted by a human Ranger.  Things go about as well as you'd expect.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character
Series: Redemption and Remaking [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010949
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> I did it! Enjoy!

Angmaen hurried towards the source of the wails. A child, likely trapped and afraid, separated from their family. 

He cut through the last of the brambles and stopped, horror twisting through his stomach. The child (for that’s what it was) was bloodstained, and her mouth was full of hideous fangs. Her hair was a tangled mess of red about her shoulders, and her grey eyes shone with tears. 

“Hello there,” Angmaen said nervously, slowly dropping into a crouch. 

The child hissed and shifted away from him. He sighed. “What’s your name?” 

“No mouth-make.” 

“Please, child! I need your name so that I might find your family--” 

“Won’t find ruckus no-exist.” She hiccuped. “Spirit-see Donahue.” 

Angmaen let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, little one. Come, I’ll get you somewhere safe.” He lifted her up into his arms, suddenly horrified by how light she was. He thought she might be around three years old, and in his experience, three year olds weighed more.  _ I’ll have to find you something to eat.  _

He recalled a Hobbit woman named Ruby who had brought an Orc into town. The same thing then--filthy, twitchy, guarded. 

He started walking faster. Oddly, the little girl didn’t startle; she only clung tighter. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. 

“Mrph.” She said nothing more, and Angmaen kept going. 

They reached Archet and he shoved his way into the inn, making sure to hide Donahue’s face and ears; the people of Archet were not tolerant of strange things by any means. 

He hurried upstairs to his room, ignoring any questioning looks. The girl needed sleep. She likely hadn’t a decent amount of sleep in quite some time. 

It was much more of a struggle getting her to sleep than he had thought. 

“You rhythmic-shift?” she asked, ears drooping. 

“I--what?” 

“Ma rhythmic-shift.” 

“Your mother…danced.” He wasn’t sure he could understand most of her strange dialect, but he supposed that was what she meant. 

“Yeah.” Her ears perked; perhaps a sign of excitement? 

“Why?” 

“Dunno.” Angmaen sighed.  _ You are talking to a very small child. Of course she doesn’t know things like that.  _

“I could sing if you like,” he offered. She grinned. 

“That easy-work-fix-make.” 

(It did help, but it also prompted questions such as: “Where mountain-move-noise?” “Why no rhythmic-shift?” and, most horrifying of all, “Why no blood-smell?” 

  
  



End file.
